Events

Book presentation

At the end of the afternoon Dr Willem Remmelink, Director of the Japan-Netherlands Institute in Tokyo, presented the two-volume The Deshima Diaries to Mr F.A.M. Majoor, Director-General of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. These volumes are a unique collection of historical data from the VOC archives that throw light on Japanese society, customs and trade in the 17th and 18th century. Remmelink mentioned the �Deshima Dagregisters-project�, which started some 18 years ago, as one of the building stones of TANAP and Encompass in terms of expertise development.

left Mr Remmelink, right Mr Majoor

In his speech of thanks Mr Majoor mentioned that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs very much supports initiatives in the field of cultural cooperation that can strengthen the ties between the Netherlands and Asia. Although the present agenda of the Ministry does not provide for the financing of a program like Encompass, he wondered whether further negotiations between the parties involved could perhaps produce the necessary investment for this challenging project.